Paradox Interactive's popular game of wizards and friendly fire will get a MOBA-focused spin-off.

Magickawas a fairly unique game, all things considered. It was a tongue-in-cheek parody of fantasy tropes that never took itself seriously, yet concealed an impressively-crafted action-RPG experience. Its complex magic system made you feel like a wizard among men for destroying enemy waves, yet you could still laugh with your friends when one wrong button made a spell blow up in your face. Combined with co-op based multiplayer and a steady stream of DLC, Magicka quickly became one of Paradox Interactive's biggest titles. Now Paradox's online branch, Paradox North, has revealed that a spin-off MOBA game is underway. Magicka: Wizard Wars will expand the original's multiplayer to better support PvP gameplay while maintaining the humor and disastrously miscast spells of the original.

"Magicka has always allowed for some unique gameplay and, with Wizard Wars, we've really captured the true experience of PvP wizardry," said Paradox North's John Hargelid. "When you put the team-focused, hardcore competition of online games together with characters whose attacks are fluid and dynamic - and then give teammates the ability to implode, freeze, and fling each other by accident - it's really something special to watch, and to play, and to yell at your friends about afterwards."

Paradox North doesn't have any footage to share just yet, save for a Game of Thrones-inspired live-action trailer that introduces the concept. That said, original Magicka players should have a pretty good idea of what gameplay to expect. Magicka was always geared towards multiplayer experiences, since group members could easily resurrect the fallen when a Thunderstorm or Meteor Strike wiped out half the team. Wizard Wars will simply shift that focus away from co-op to a more robust PvP experience. The game's description also emphasizes "sandbox action", leading me to believe that arena maps will be far larger than those from Magicka.

As a MOBA, Wizard Wars will include persistent character progression, allowing players to personalize wizards with hundreds of unique items. That feature alone could be a strong hint for free-to-play support, considering the custom hats and weapons visible in the trailer. Only time will tell, but since Magicka managed to sell millions of copies worldwide, I imagine Wizard Wars will be a huge success either way.

Ok this sounds fun and it might even be a MOBA I could get into. I've never played LOL or DOTA 2 due to the fact that I hear they're not very friendly towards new players but this sounds like it could be a nice casual version of it.

Also I can't even imagine just how nuts this could be with Magika's friendly fire system, imagine a match of LOL were one mis-cast Draven ult kills your whole team and not a single enemy player or a Sona Cresendo stuns your entire team.

Also I can't even imagine just how nuts this could be with Magika's friendly fire system, imagine a match of LOL were one mis-cast Draven ult kills your whole team and not a single enemy player or a Sona Cresendo stuns your entire team.

A MOBA with friendly fire you say? Oh I can NOT wait for this to come out! I do have to wonder how the game would progress. Would you have to start out with swords only then buy spells? Buy spell charges? What about the different robes? Or they could just go the fun, crazy route and have EVERYTHING AVAILABLE. it would be chaos

OT: I never got to play magicka due to the fact that my computer sucked at the time it came out, but an MMO/MOBA? COUNT ME IN!

kajinking:Ok this sounds fun and it might even be a MOBA I could get into. I've never played LOL or DOTA 2 due to the fact that I hear they're not very friendly towards new players but this sounds like it could be a nice casual version of it.

Also I can't even imagine just how nuts this could be with Magika's friendly fire system, imagine a match of LOL were one mis-cast Draven ult kills your whole team and not a single enemy player or a Sona Cresendo stuns your entire team.

A MOBA, seriously guys?!Fucking around with friends was incredible fun especially with all the super OP shit you could find, none of which can be done in MOBA because it's competitive so it all needs to be equally gimped and everybody hates you for even playing, also that genre is filled with thousands competing for the same space at the same time, why would you cut down your unique adventure game to try and fit into that hate fest...

I do want to see what they come up with but this just sounds like a whole lot of regress to hit a popular market and make bankers happy.

Also I can't even imagine just how nuts this could be with Magika's friendly fire system, imagine a match of LOL were one mis-cast Draven ult kills your whole team and not a single enemy player or a Sona Cresendo stuns your entire team.

A MOBA with friendly fire you say? Oh I can NOT wait for this to come out! I do have to wonder how the game would progress. Would you have to start out with swords only then buy spells? Buy spell charges? What about the different robes? Or they could just go the fun, crazy route and have EVERYTHING AVAILABLE. it would be chaos

OT: I never got to play magicka due to the fact that my computer sucked at the time it came out, but an MMO/MOBA? COUNT ME IN!

fuck it, spam death, your team will understand.

OT: at first I thought "isn't Magicka already PvP?"

Second thought, "Poor yellow, first he gets played by simon now he has to actually do things other than dying."

But a MOBA based in the Magicka world? with all hilarious friendly fire possibilities included?

Cant wait to get a penta-kill by bubble shielding my team and just beam spamming.